Georgia’s legislators will do plenty of talking about the major issues that confront them during the General Assembly session that kicked off Monday.

When it comes to actually passing legislation that would do something about these issues, however, the odds are much lower that lawmakers’ actions will match their words. You shouldn’t expect to see the passage of many significant bills this year.

A big reason for this is that 2012 is an election year in which the seats of all 236 senators and representatives will be up for grabs.

I would like to challenge everyone to a contest. Every house has a “messy” room, but I dare anybody to top mine. I not only have one trash room, I have two. Isn’t that exciting?

Before I answer my door, I make sure there aren’t any TV cameras from the Hoarders show. They could probably make a good 30-minute telecast on my holiday decorations. Talk about embarrassing your family! My grandson would probably try to get me professional help, and my granddaughter would deny that she’s related to me.

It’s a tradition for political columnists to close out the year by picking their list of winners and losers for the 12-month period that just ended.

These winners and losers typically are defined by what they did to gain or lose political power. I modified that concept to decide who would be on my list: in Georgia politics, winning and losing usually depends on who ends up with the money.

Oh, not because I had stars in my eyes or a new status symbol for an inflated ego, but because the driver following me too closely one recent morning couldn’t stop as quickly as I did, and merged his vehicle solidly with mine.

We put up the same decorations, we sing the same hymns and carols, we even read the same scripture texts at this time of year, but I pray that not every Christmas will be the same.

This year I found myself headed toward Christmas day encountering a number of emotional ups and downs.

With the announcement of the official end to the war in Iraq comes the anticipation of many soldiers returning stateside. Joyful reunion scenes are headed our way, and we will get to see families embrace each other in a classic welcome home.

For all the emphasis that our political leaders put on bringing business giants like Kia and Porsche to Georgia, it’s easy to lose sight of this fact: The state’s largest industry is still agriculture.

The people who operate our farms, dairies and orchards bring in more dollars for the state’s economy each year than any other business segment.

You would think that our political leadership would appreciate the contributions of our farmers and do everything they can to help them. That has not been the case, however.

Climbing up the snowy hilltop towards the North Pole a few weeks ago, I was trying to figure out who I could interview for Christmas this year.

I have gone through most everyone who lives there: Santa, Mrs. Claus, Rudolph, some of the elves the year they went on strike, and even some of the other reindeer. Seemed to me there was no one left to talk to, so I thought maybe Santa had an idea.

When Bobby Franklin passed away last summer from a heart attack, I thought we had seen the end of a legislative tradition.

Franklin, who represented Cobb County in the Georgia House for 15 years, was a somewhat strange politician who was at the center of a yearly tradition at the Gold Dome. Each November, when legislators would start pre-filing bills for the upcoming session, Franklin would introduce a bunch of measures that were, shall we say, out there on the far reaches of the political spectrum.